Blues News #666
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Blues News #666

The ironies of life are many…

A couple of weekends ago, the fates took us riding through the Dandenong Ranges, to Olinda to be precise. After we’d blinked and totally missed Olinda, we ended up in Belgrave, where we happened to fall upon Sooki Lounge, a purely random choice.

Well, it won’t be random next time. It’s a lovely place, relaxing ambience, good tucker and on Sunday arvos, a great little open mic session run by Pia Nesuero. She opened with a Bob Dylan cover, and went on to do some of her own material. Very impressive.

Of course, the strangest aspect was that Tim Hulsman was headlining that night – all the way from Geelong! Would you believe it?

Now, coming soon to Geelong is the Kevin Buckingham Band (KBB). This band has drawn huge crowds since launching late in 2015, with rave reviews at every show.

KBB is not your typical blues band, their sound has a hard rocky edge with a strong blues flavour – and their performances are reminiscent of the glory days of raw, honest Aussie pub rock.
After a short hiatus Kevin is back ripping it up with a fresh line-up of seasoned muso’s.

Although this particular line-up is relatively new to the Melbourne music scene, the KBB sound and perform as if they have been together for over a decade. But this is not surprising when you look at the reputations and credentials of its members.

The new line-up is Kevin Buckingham (guitar and lead vocals) with Winston Galea (drums and vocals), David Brimacombe (guitar and vocals) and Peter Neagoe (bass guitar). Their connection and energy is obvious from the very first note. They secured five regular residencies within their first 12 months. This is one band not to be missed!

The band puts its own take on some obscure covers, along with a few classics, and also perform great original songs (some of these award winners). A measure of the quality of their ‘originals’ is that fresh audiences often find themselves singing along to them.

You only have to look over the past few years to get an idea of what the band is like. Some of their highlights in that time include opening for Eric Steckel in July 2016, opening for Harper and Midwest Kind in March 2017 this year for their China/Australia tour, playing the Basin Music Festival main stage this year and last year.

They scored eights and a nine out of 10 when competing for a chance to play-off for the International Blues Challenge in Memphis. This is one of the strongest bands SHBC has hosted this year.

On a parting note, this is Forte #666! Without getting sucked in to various translations of the Book of Revelations, or the habits of Aleister Crowley, I can say one definite thing about the number 666 – it’s the sum of all the numbers on a roulette wheel (0 through 36).

Well, if you’re not up to the trip to Belgrave, check out the Kevin Buckingham Band at Sleepy Hollow on June 25.

Written by John Lamp.